The present invention relates in general to a cage that can be stored or transported in a folded, collapsed condition and can be quickly unfolded and assembled for use without the use of screws, bolts or other types of fasteners.
Manufacturers of animal cages, such as bird cages, typically sell the cages to wholesalers or retailers in an unassembled condition, since the cages take up too much space if stored or shipped already assembled. Unfortunately, assembly of one of these cages can be a time consuming, tedious task requiring use of many screws, bolts, nuts or other fasteners. A need therefore exists for an animal cage design that allows the cage to be collapsed or compacted for shipping, but assembled quickly and without the need for screws, bolts or other types of fasteners.
To fulfill the foregoing need, the present invention provides a cage that employs a specially designed hinging system that allows the cage to fold to a collapsed condition for storage or shipping, and then to be unfolded and secured to an open position without the need for any type of fastening means, such as screws, bolts, etc., or the use of hand tools, or the like. More particularly, the invention comprises a cage that includes a folding side assembly and removable top and bottom sections or assemblies which, when secured to the folding side assembly, maintain the same in an open, unfolded position.
In a preferred embodiment, the folding side assembly is formed of six permanently assembled sections, each of which is attached to adjacent sections by means of a plurality of pivoting hinges. These six sections form four sides of the cage, which preferably is rectangular or square. Two of the sections form two fixed sides of the cage, while the remaining four sections form, in two hinged pairs, two folding sides of the cage. The pairs are hinged to one another so that the folding sides can fold inwardly toward one another and cause the fixed sides of the cage to collapse toward one another in an accordion fashion.
Preferably, the cage side sections are each constructed of a metal tubing frame and a plurality of spaced, vertical cage rods or bars. To facilitate hinging of the side sections to one another, two and three-piece hinge designs are employed. The fixed sides are attached to the folding sides by means of a plurality of two-piece hinges. Each of these hinges includes a first hinge plate or that is permanently secured to a frame tube of the fixed side and a second hinge plate that is permanently secured to a frame tube of the folding side section. The hinge plates have apertures therein that are lined up with one another for receipt of a pivot pin that secures the hinge plates to one another. The pivot pin can be a rivet, screw or equivalent, or in many instances, can be one of the cage rods or bars. Similarly, the hinged sections of the folding sides are secured to one another with three-piece hinges. Each of these hinges includes a first hinge plate that is permanently secured to a frame tube of the first folding side section and a second hinge plate that is permanently secured to a frame tube of the second folding side section . A third hinge plate is secured at one end to the first hinge plate, at the other end to the second hinge plate, and in the middle to a vertical frame tube to which hinge plates for a number of other hinges are also secured.
In the preferred embodiment, square, hollow metal tubing is employed in the frame tubes of the various side sections. The three-piece hinges that connect the folding side sections to one another are designed in such a way that when the side assembly is unfolded to its open position, the hinge plates are flush with the square frame tubes. This is achieved by using three-sided hinge plates having u-shaped cross sections. The first and second hinge plates include first ends that are press fit or otherwise secured in the ends of the hollow metal frame tubes of the adjacent folding side sections, and second ends that fit within the two ends of the third hinge plate. The third hinge plate is dimensioned so that its three sides are the same size as the sides of the frame tubes. In addition, ends of the three hinge plates that are connected to each other have rounded edges to facilitate unimpeded pivoting action.
Once the cage side assembly is unfolded, a fixed top and a bottom frame panel are secured thereto, thus fixing the cage in its open position, again, without the use of any type of fasteners. In particular, a top section is positioned by means of a group of vertical pins extending from the top frame members of the side assembly and a plurality of corresponding apertures in the top section. In addition, the bottom frame panel is positioned within a lower horizontal frame section of the unfolded side assembly and is held in position by a plurality of L-shaped clips that are permanently attached to the bottom frame panel and have ends that rest on top of the horizontal frame tubes of the side assembly. Once the top section and the bottom frame panel are in position, gravity holds them in place and the side assembly is thus secured in its open position, thereby also eliminating the need for any type of latching mechanism.